


The Spirit of Christmas

by Stacysmash



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Before nationals, Christmas, Fluff, Getting Together, Harmless Pranks, M/M, Sexual Tension, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 04:46:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17073734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stacysmash/pseuds/Stacysmash
Summary: It was about two weeks before their Christmas break when Tsukishima first noticed it. Hinata seemed to be shining brighter than normal. It wasn’t the fact that he was bubbling with excitement, caught up in the positive energy of the holiday. It wasn’t their upcoming break from grueling schoolwork and extra study sessions intended to keep his grades up. Not even the looming Nationals in Tokyo next month was what had Tsukishima squinting from the brightness emanating from Hinata. No, it was because he had a piece of tinsel embedded in his thick mop of hair that was reflecting the bright lights of the gym.





	The Spirit of Christmas

It was about two weeks before their Christmas break when Tsukishima first noticed it. Hinata seemed to be shining brighter than normal. It wasn’t the fact that he was bubbling with excitement, caught up in the positive energy of the holiday. It wasn’t their upcoming break from grueling schoolwork and extra study sessions intended to keep his grades up. Not even the looming Nationals in Tokyo next month was what had Tsukishima squinting from the brightness emanating from Hinata. No, it was because he had a piece of tinsel embedded in his thick mop of hair that was reflecting the bright lights of the gym.

Tsukishima’s fingers itched to slip it out but doing so would also mean he would be touching Hinata’s hair, something he refused to do. What if it was really soft and he’d be tempted to touch it again? It was like the tinsel was put there on purpose, so it would be even harder to keep his eyes from the orange fluff of energy.

The strangest thing was that no one else seemed to notice. He was hoping at least Sugawara or Ennoshita would see it and pick it out for him, relieving Tsukishima of his torture. But everyone was full of nervous energy about Christmas and Nationals that no one seemed to be paying attention.

By the time practice was over, Tsukishima was in a foul mood as he stripped off his sweaty jersey. He couldn’t wait to slip his headphones on and walk home in his own little world, but somehow, he knew the vision of Hinata would remain in his mind even when he wasn’t right in front of him. Of course, it would, it’s been happening more frequently, and Hinata didn’t need a shred of Christmas decoration in his hair to invade Tsukishima’s thoughts.

The next day, Tsukishima came to school refreshed. There was a lot going on and exams to concentrate on, so there was no way he’d be consumed with irritating thoughts about Hinata. And there was no chance of him having tinsel in his hair _again_ , that would just be ridiculous. Fate had other ideas, unfortunately, while he was enjoying his lunch with Yamaguchi in the quiet confines of his classroom when the culprit stuck his head inside the room

“Tsukishimaaaa, can you look over one of my math problems?”

“I don’t need to, I can tell you right now it’s probably wrong. Have a nice day.”

“No, I haven’t solved it yet! The formula the teacher gave us doesn’t make sense.”

Tsukishima huffed and brought his juice box to his lips, sucking on the narrow straw angrily. Yamaguchi snickered and gave his shin a light kick.

“Come on, Tsukki, it’s almost Christmas.”

“That didn’t escape my notice.”

“Just help him this once.”

“Yeah, please?!” Hinata begged, suddenly appearing right next to the desk with his homework crumpling in his tight grip.

“Ugh, fine.”

Hinata beamed down at him and again Tsukishima had to squint from the brightness even without the help of Christmas decorations enhancing it. Luckily, Hinata slipped his concentration face on, which to Tsukishima just looked ridiculous with his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth, and knelt beside the desk. Tsukishima focused purely on the paper and nodded when he read over the question. He wrote a few notes in the margin, explaining step-by-step how to work through the problem.

It was difficult ignoring the mop of orange hair edging into his view, and what made it worse was how the room seemed ten degrees warmer with his small body so close. He tore his eyes away and looked at Yamaguchi instead, but his friend seemed very preoccupied with his phone with a sly smile resting on his lips.

 _Hmm, that’s weird_.

“Is this right?” Hinata asked, drawing Tsukishima’s attention back to his radiant brown eyes staring at him hopefully. He cleared his throat and looked at the problem instead and to his astonishment, Hinata had solved it correctly. He smiled as he slid the paper back to Hinata.

“Yes, that’s how you do it. Good job.”

Hinata’s eyes widened as he gaped at Tsukishima, his mouth opening with no sound coming out of it but a soft intake of breath. He had no clue why Hinata was staring at him like that, but it was hard to mind it when a pretty flush crawled across his cheeks. It was all he could do not to stroke his fingers along Hinata’s jaw and run his thumb over his silky lips.

Tsukishima wrenched his eyes away from Hinata’s face and trailed them down, thinking that was a safer bet. It wasn’t. Hinata’s black school jacket was open at the top, showing off his collarbone that had a streak of bright green icing across it with remnants of red sprinkles.

 _What the hell is he trying to do to me?_ Tsukishima thought, his mouth automatically watering to run his tongue over the icing to clean it up. He finally clicked his tongue and scooted his chair away from Hinata’s heat radiating body.

“Is that it? Can I eat my lunch in peace now?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m sorry,” Hinata said, his whole body drooping with disappointment. He pressed his lips tight together as he shuffled to his feet and dusted himself off with his back to Tsukishima.

Where he got the idea from, Tsukishima had no clue. Perhaps it stemmed from the comical fact that Hinata was progressively transforming into a Christmas tree. Or maybe it was because he knew it was too easy to mess with the energetic ginger. Whatever the reason, Tsukishima reached into his bag and dislodged a colorful bow from a gift he had stowed there, pulled it out and carefully pressed it into the bottom of Hinata’s jacket. He released the fabric and nodded once he was certain it would stick. Covering his amused smirk with his palm, Tsukishima glanced across his desk at Yamaguchi who was looking at him like he had suddenly grown an extra head. He simply shrugged and coughed when Hinata turned around to grab his paper off the desk.

“Thanks, Tsukki,” Hinata said quietly with a gentle smile pulling at his lips. Guilt gripped into his chest at the sight and he audibly sighed with relief when Hinata turned away and walked out of the classroom, the bow still attached to the jacket.

“What was that about?” Yamaguchi asked with a playful smile which told Tsukishima he wasn’t about to be lectured.

“The other day he had tinsel stuck in his hair, and now he had green icing on his chest. I was wondering how much I could get away with without him noticing. Call it a Christmas experiment.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Yamaguchi snickered. “I’m surprised you even noticed. In fact, I’d say you’ve been noticing Hinata a lot lately,” He continued, not meeting Tsukishima’s eye as he picked at the desk.

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry, Tsukki,” He answered as always, though he obviously didn’t mean it as he tried hard not to laugh.

To both their amusement, Hinata _still_ had the bow on his jacket when they showed up for practice that afternoon. It was Tanaka who finally pointed it out, laughing his head off as he ripped it off the jacket and showed Hinata.

“That’s why I kept hearing a _crinkling_ noise every time I sat down! How did it get there?!” He squawked. Yamaguchi opened his mouth, but one stern look from Tsukki made him shut it and turn around to giggle in his locker. Tsukishima’s curiosity was peaked, and he was determined to see how much decorating he could do without Hinata finding out. The wheels were already turning in his head as he made an inventory of extra Christmas decorations at the house and how he was going to utilize each one.

The next day, he returned to school with a slender pin he had borrowed off his mother, a gift someone had given her that she never really liked. In addition to being garishly colorful, there were three tiny bells that tinkled with every slight movement. It seemed fate was on his side when he first entered the school and spied Hinata by his locker, shuffling out of his outdoor shoes.

Tsukishima weaved through the students and crept up behind him, dropping to his knees and facing the lockers so everyone around believed he was doing the same. His heart raced as he unfastened the pin and slipped it through the fabric of Hinata’s shoelaces. He winced as soon as he had done it; there was no way Hinata wouldn’t notice when he still had yet to slip them on. It was too late to back out, however, and he slowly shuffled away and lurked at the end of the lockers to see what Hinata would do.

He wasn’t sure if it was the noisy chatter from the students or the fact that Hinata seemed to be in his usual rush, but the idiot wiggled into his shoes and threw the other ones in the locker without even noticing the bells _tinkling_ on his foot. Tsukishima gaped as Hinata slammed the locker shut and took off to his first class, bewildered that he had, in fact, gotten away with it.

_Well, I doubt he’ll go through the whole day with it._

Tsukishima almost slapped his own face when he showed up to the club room and Hinata was hopping around like usual as the bells rattled on his foot. It was worth it, however, when he noticed Kageyama’s face as he stared at Hinata with a more intense scowl than usual, occasionally looking around the room for the source of the noise. Finally, when Hinata was on the floor and yanking his shoes off did he notice the small pin jingling in front of him and squawked.

“How did this get here?!”

“That’s where I keep hearing that noise! Hinata, you dumbass, why the hell do you have bells on your shoe?!”

“I don't know!”

Tsukishima couldn’t find it in his heart to feel guilty as their senpais laughed and teased Hinata, he was trying too hard not to laugh himself. The whole situation should have painted his teammate in a hopeless light, that he truly was a complete idiot. That wasn’t the thought that lingered in Tsukishima’s mind as he changed into his own volleyball gear with a smile playing on his lips. He was thoroughly amused, and it felt good to have a reason to think about Hinata without any alluring desires tagging along.

“Tsukishima?” Daichi asked as he leaned against the lockers next to him, glancing over his shoulder as Hinata and Kageyama raced out the doors. He turned his gaze back to Tsukishima with an eyebrow raised. “Is it you who has been pranking Hinata lately?”

“To be honest, I’ve only done two things: the bow and the bells. The rest was just him accidentally decorating himself and I thought I’d assist him in embracing the spirit of Christmas.”

The captain’s stern demeanor broke as he snorted into his hand. “I see. Well, as long as no one gets hurt, I don’t see the harm.”

“Thank you, Daichi-san. I’ll make sure the Shrimp doesn’t hurt himself.”

Tsukishima’s Christmas pranking lasted the rest of the week, and a couple days Hinata went all the way home without perceiving his new decoration. Their teammates would have pointed it out, but after the bell incident, they all kept their mouths shut as they chuckled behind Hinata’s back and waited for his arrival anxiously to see what Tsukishima had done to him.

None of it was meant to be malicious. If anything, they lavished Hinata with more positive attention, ruffling his hair as glitter sprinkled out of it or squeezed his shoulders encouragingly as their hands crinkled the wrapping paper Tsukishima had taped there like a Christmas themed superhero cape. And, like the idiot he was, Hinata soaked up the attention without knowing anything was amiss.

Because of that, his pranking soon lost a bit of its fun, seeing Tanaka’s fingers in Hinata’s hair or Sugawara beaming at his kouhai without any worry of what others might think. It made him even more grumpy than before and he stubbornly decided that he wouldn’t do anything to Hinata on their last day of classes. In fact, he wouldn’t pay any attention to him at all.

He stuck to his guns and met every passing event of the day with grim determination. Yamaguchi questioned his sudden foul mood, but he shrugged it off. If he could just get through the day, he would be free and would have a peaceful break from everything relating to Hinata.

The day didn’t feel peaceful, however. All week he had looked forward to messing with Hinata and allowing himself to think about his teammate. Observing him from afar had brought a rejuvenating playfulness to the grueling school days. Now every moment felt empty and dark, even with the excited energy crackling around him from his classmates.

Once he realized what was wrong with him, he felt even worse. Yet he still refused to give in and pay attention to Hinata, even when they met at practice. He ignored the way everyone looked Hinata over carefully and groaned with disappointment when there was nothing amiss. Tsukishima’s only respite came when Coach ended practice early for the holidays since everyone’s head was in the clouds.

He wanted to rush to the club room and get out as soon as possible, but he was nearly run over by the rest of the team. Their voices were loud as they changed quickly and clamored outside, and Tsukishima heaved a heavy sigh when they flooded back out, filling the club room with blissful silence. He frowned when he realized that Yamaguchi hadn’t lingered behind, which was strange.

 _Perhaps he’s waiting outside_ , He thought, shrugging as he finished dressing. His feet were slipping into his shoes when the club room door burst open and footsteps thundered across the room. He didn’t even have time to look when the intruder rushed behind him and jumped, fixing an object on top of Tsukishima’s head.

“Ha! That’s what you get, Prankyshima!”

Tsukishima was stunned for a minute, clueless what was on top of his head and alarmed at the sudden presence of Hinata right behind him. He fixed his expression into his usual cool stare and turned around slowly, leaning back against the lockers with nonchalance.

“What the hell is on my head?”

A wide grin split across Hinata’s face as he puffed his chest out. “It’s mistletoe! I know it’s you that’s been putting all that stuff on me lately, so it’s my turn to get you back.”

Tsukishima’s face flooded with heat, his mouth suddenly growing dry as he stared into Hinata's innocent eyes. “Why did you choose mistletoe?”

The smile slipped a bit as Hinata cocked his head, his eyebrows knitting together. “Because it’s Christmasy, right? And you haven’t done it yet.”

“Hinata, it’s _mistletoe_. You know the tradition, right?”

Hinata remained stunned, blinking up at Tsukishima as the gears turned in his head. Tsukishima dreaded the moment those gears locked into place but all too soon Hinata’s eyes widened and his face flushed a bright red.

“Ack! I didn’t mean it like that! Yamaguchi said it would be a good idea to get you back.”

 _The traitor_ , Tsukishima grumbled mentally, already planning his revenge against his conniving best friend. But he couldn’t keep his thoughts on Yamaguchi when Hinata was trembling right in front of him in a fit of embarrassment. How could he resist teasing him when he was in such a state, especially when he’d been denying himself all day?

He hovered over Hinata with a devilish smirk and cocked his head. “So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to go through with your mediocre prank, or are you too chicken?”

“Wha— Chicken?! Like hell!”

“What are you going to do then, Shrimp?” He said a lower tone, pleasure rushing through his veins when Hinata shivered from his voice. Tsukishima waited as Hinata flickered quickly through several emotions, shock, hope, distrust, curiosity until finally, he swiveled his head around like he was looking for something. He shot off in a blur to the other side of the room and snatched up a stool and rushed back over, slamming it down in front of Tsukishima. With a light jump, he landed on top of it and stood up to full height, still ending up shorter than the other.

Tsukishima tipped his head back and laughed, unable to control his amusement. He stilled when Hinata’s hand planted beside his head against the locker and fixed him with the same intense gaze he had when he lined up a spike from one of Kageyama’s tosses. It was a hungry look, usually only reserved for a volleyball, but at that moment all he could see was Tsukishima.

Shivers ran up Tsukishima’s spine at being pinned by such a look, and he couldn’t move a muscle as Hinata leaned closer. He reached up with his other hand and stroked down Tsukishima’s jaw, giving his chin a little tug to open his mouth slightly. Tsukishima thought he might die when Hinata’s eyes fell to his lips and then licked his own.

Unable to stand it any longer, he closed his eyes. Perhaps if he couldn’t see Hinata, he’d just disappear, and he’d be safe once again. There was no escape, however, and he nearly gasped as he felt Hinata’s warm breath against his lips just before they kissed.

He wasn’t sure what he expected, perhaps something rushed and messy like everything else Hinata did. It wasn’t nervous and trembling either, like when Hinata freaked out over nothing. It was steady and sure; there was no doubt that Hinata wanted to kiss him as much as Tsukishima desired it. But it was also tender, as sweet as melted chocolate slipping past his lips and onto his tongue. No wait, that was literally Hinata’s tongue.

His sharp intake of breath caused Hinata to pull away, both their eyes flying open in alarm.

“I’m sorry! I got a little carried away, I hope I didn’t—Mmph!” His words were muffled as Tsukishima gripped the front of his shirt and yanked him back in for another kiss. This time he spread his lips and slipped his tongue right in, earning a squeak of surprise from Hinata. After a moment of hesitation, he melted in Tsukishima’s arms as they wrapped around his back and pulled him closer. When they finally pulled apart, Hinata’s brown eyes looked dazed as he smiled shyly at Tsukishima.

“Wow… that was amazing.”

Tsukishima snickered and glanced up at the contraption on his head holding the mistletoe. “Good prank, shrimp. You really got me this time.”

“Yeah, I guess I did,” He said softly as his fingers reached up to play with the front of Tsukishima’s shirt. He gazed down at it for a few moments, biting his lip until he finally gained the courage to meet Tsukishima’s eye. “Do you think we could hang out over break, just the two of us?”

The club room was beginning to feel like a sauna to Tsukishima with Hinata’s body hovering so close to his own and his words sparking his pulse to race haphazardly. He gulped down his nerves when Hinata began to fidget and tightened his grip around his waist, pulling him in one more time.

“Yeah, I’d like that. At this point, I think I’d be really lonely not seeing you during break.”

“Wha—I, did you… just—” Hinata continued spouting out nonsensical words as Tsukishima sneered into his face. He felt foolish wasting so much time on his pranking, realizing how just a little genuine flirting reduced Hinata to jelly. He chuckled as he leaned forward, stopping the flow of words with a press of his lips against Hinata’s. _Oh yeah, this is much better._

 

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to take a break from all the fics I'm trying to finish to write something obscenely fluffy and holiday themed. It's not beta'd, so please forgive any mistakes! I also wrote this whole thing today, so hopefully it's not total crap, ha ha ha.


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